From volcanoes to dinosaurs

From Bedrock Village and Undara, we drove along the great expanse of nothingness to Charters Towers. The road was occasionally one lane total – which was a little unnerving when four trailer road-trains thundered toward us.  The road was so ordinary that we wondered if we had strayed onto a ‘development road’ instead of the highway for a time.  But we stopped for lunch at Oasis Roadhouse on the crossroads between nowhere and nothing and confirmed with other travellers that the road we were following was the best of a bad bunch. 

We spent much time musing on how people could possibly live out here.  The landscape is so unforgiving – dry, flat, virtually shadeless and red red red!  There are hundreds of kilometres between roadhouses, which double as grocers, pubs, post offices, Royal Flying Doctors clinics, accommodation providers and community centres.  Yet we frequently passed dirt roads leading off the highway with signs to properties that are a couple of hundred kilometres even further remote.  How do you get groceries in a place like this?  Kel strongly disputes Rich’s assertion that Coles do a delivery run!!

We survived the trip and pulled into Charters Towers, set up the van and then drove up to the town lookout at Tower Hill called ‘The World’ to see what this place was about. The town was the scene of a goldrush in the late 1800s, and still had the ‘main street’ and beautifully preserved old colonial buildings to prove it.  It also had several amazing, shady, big (empty) parks.  With a bit of imagination, you could see through the modern goings on and see ‘Deadwood’ in this place. The gold mine manager of the day even shot his CEO in the head in a drunken rage.

The rocky hilltop was also the site of an old gold processing factory and some WW2 bunkers.  Rock wallabies have also made it their home and it was a treat to see a couple bounding around.  Before heading off the next morning, we took another drive up to the lookout to check it out on foot.

Undara Volcanic National Park

Perhaps the biggest surprise at Mt Surprise was the stellar mobile reception we had here – far better than our Cairns abodes (or home for that matter).  We are approximately 100km west of the coast and are surprised at how quickly the landscape turns to scrub.  It is really hot and dry out here! 

Got up early and visited the Kalkani Crater which is part of the Undara Volcanic National Park. Walked to the summit of the crater which provided us a good vantage to survey the vast expanse of the rest of the park.  Not much to see really – it all blends in to the surrounding scrubby plains!  This is probably about the point where we realised that green shading for National Parks on maps can be somewhat deceiving J.  Joined our tour of the Lava tubes at the visitors centre. The Lava Tubes blew all of our expectations out of the water, and we were all amazed by the sheer scale of these caves. There was much adventure climbing up and down rocks and into dark little holes that opened up into massive caverns.  Spotted many little bats and some sick looking lost toads along the way.  The tour guide was very good and seemed to enjoy having the kids along and Dylan’s bottomless bucket of questions and observations.

Returned to Bedrock Village to get some lunch and cool off in the pool.  Went to visit the man in the post office/everything else shop for a fossicking permit.  Oh yes, we will make our fortune here!  The man was dubious about the amount of daylight and the lack of equipment we had.  It was 40kms of dirt road to get out there and a return journey made more exciting by wandering cattle and kangaroos appearing out of nowhere – but that didn’t stop us and off we went in search of topaz and other riches. After realising that fossicking is very addictive, we left the fossicking fields half an hour later than anticipated (with a very modest haul :() as the sun was starting to set. A frantic drive back to the campsite got us back half an hour late (but still in time) for our pre-ordered dinner.

Atherton Tableland

Woke up to an excavator rock hammer, a tree lopping crew and the kids all competing to get Kel and Rich out of bed at 7am. Hit the road soon after and began by taking the dirt road around Lake Tinaroo.  HIghlights included the Cathedral fig and the Curtain fig.  These trees have an amazing presence - so Avatar-like.  



Cathedral Fig - spot the kids




Curtain fig



Curtain fig

 Followed a 'secret' 4WD track across someone's property to a wonderful lookout over the valley to Pyramid Mountain.

Continued along to extinct volcanic crater Lake Barrine and a noisy (thanks Dylan and Ari!) Devonshire Tea in this beautiful place.

Loving the beautiful lush green farmlands.

Next stop was lunch and a lie in the sun at the second extinct volcanic crater Lake Eacham. Tried our luck with Platypus viewing and tree kangaroo spotting at Yungaburra (no luck with either :()Headed along the ‘Waterfall Trail’ to check out the amazing Millaa Millaa Falls, crowded with scantily clad backpackers.



OK, so probably doesn't qualify as a big thing, but what exactly is going on here??!

Also saw a few other waterfalls along our journey to Atherton and a quick stop at the Crystal Caves shop that had been a priority on the Dylan and Ariel’s itinerary since the evening prior.

Many of you will know that the kids are currently obsessed with spies.  So we left Lake Tinaroo next morning heading in the direction of this place...

the Spy and Camera Museum at Herberton where Kel and Rich (and to a lesser degree the kids) were treated to a half an hour guided tour of an intriguing and quirky museum showing the development of cameras through history, including spy cameras such as the button hole camera, and a tiny one for photographing documents complete with garrott for those pesky enemy guards. The kids most enjoyed the radio beacon disguised as dog poo.

Big drive from there to our destination for the day – Bedrock Village at Mount Surprise.

Cairns and cousin Alice

We were greeted in Cairns by an amazing BBQ meal fit for several kings put on by our host, Margaret, and a visit by Ceri and Freddy. We were soon pooped and ready for bed at Margaret’s house – wow a real bed!

Next morning up early and off for a walk up Saddle Mountain for a great view of the Cairns district. We then had to rush straight to the airport to pick up Rich’s cousin Alice – phew made it, then off to Kuranda markets and down / up the Skyrail.  It was now we discovered that Alice was afraid of heights.  The kids helped out by voicing her fears - “wow, look how high we are” and “mummy, what happens if the cable breaks?”

We then ventured into Cairns for a walk along the esplanade, a quick drink in a lovely bar, and dinner. After getting up at 4:30am to catch the flight to Cairns Alice was done by then. The kids were high on sugar after a late ice cream, but then the low hit, and all were asleep heading up the hill back to Kuranda.

Next morning, we decided to hit the road again and head up Port Douglas way. We took the country way and a leisurely drive through the northern Tablelands on the way to Port Douglas. After popping in to check out the cheap campsite, we quickly retreated to the more expensive one a few kms up the road at Wonga Beach. We were all happy we did – dodged a bullet on that one! At the Pinnacle camp site, we had room, clean amenities, peacocks, shade, a beautiful pool, playground and the beach. After dropping the van, we headed back out on the road for a walk around the Mossman Gorge – hoping to tack on a swim in the gorge as it was quite warm. After a great walk, we bravely ventured inch by inch into the freezing cold water – but even Rich and all his bravado could not summon enough courage to get in any further than the top of his knees.

Next day we drove to the Daintree and headed out on a great Croc spotting boat ride. The guide found us pretty much every croc in his territory, at the same time giving us the Croc ‘Sopranos’ story, and introducing us to Scarface (the alpha croc) and his harem. 

Scarface looking unimpressed

Wife 3

On a more intimate return trip, we also heard a grisly tale about a local boy and his unlucky fate.  Imagine having to factor risk of crocodile attack into your play date decisions!  A quick drive into Cape Tribulation, an awesome lookout and another enjoyable walk in the rainforest (but unfortunately no cassowaries or tree kangaroos). Ended the day with a semi-relaxed dusk campfire on the beach – with a few sweeps of the torch in case any errant saltwater crocs were creeping up on us.

We had a day of rest around the beautiful campsite, swimming and chilling out in preparation for the following day on the reef. Had another campfire on the beach along with some satellite spotting and then off to bed.

Woke up early and zoomed off to Port Douglas to get on the Wavedancer and head out to the Low Isles. Wow- what a beautiful day with perfect weather. The ride out was fun, the reef and island were great, and the kids and Alice enjoyed swimming around checking out the coral and sealife.

The boat ride back was also relaxing. We stuck around in Port Douglas to find Kel some new thongs to replace the ones she’d left on the Low Isles and a tasty meal at the pub. Followed up with a laser show in the park opposite.

Next day, took the scenic coast drive back to Cairns, and on the way saw an old guy trying his hand at paragliding and trying to take off backwards. Caught up with Margaret’s daughter, Dani, her partner Mark, and Margaret’s granddaughter Carmen at Muddy’s playground where our kids went ballistic spraying each other and passers-by with water. From there, dropped Alice off at the airport so she could continue her own Aussie adventure.

In the morning Kel and the kids went to the Butterfly sanctuary and Birdworld whilst Rich went on a wild goosechase across Cairns but did succeed in snapping a shot of the Big Captain Cook.

In the afternoon we were back on the road after saying goodbye to Margaret and her lovely house. We headed south down through the Atherton Tablelands and on to Lake Tinaroo.

Cairns is a really long way away!

Cairns is a major destination for us, but it seems that everytime we look at the map we are surprised all over again at how darn far away it is!  Next stop Airlie Beach, the drive to was pretty uneventful.  We met up with Kel's long lost brother Adam, who works on Hamilton Island.  The kids enjoyed getting to know their uncle.  Owing to a missed ferry (is this becoming a theme?), he spent an impromptu night at Chateau Williams.

Looking whistfully at the Whitsunday Islands next day, we decided to press on.  Hello juicy Big Mango (complete with foreign tourists and a random dude surveying the scene from his balcony)!

Spent an entirely forgettable night at Townsville.  The town probably earned this reputation unfairly, having more to do with some serious map reading errors and booked out campsites than its attractions (or lack of).  Set off again next morning.

Took the scenic route through the many cane fields.  The kids were interested in the harvesting that was underway and the network of train lines to move it.  Stopped in for lunch at beautiful Mission Beach.  We gazed at Dunk Island while the kids cracked fresh coconuts to get to the milk inside. 

There are cassowary signs everywhere here.  Apparently there is a resident population, but they did not grace us with their presence :(  Had to content ourselves with this one instead...

The other signs that are starting to make a regular appearance are the crocodile ones.  We spent some time googling statistics that might explain why the signs are written in English and German but no other languages??!!  So here we are in paradise fearing for our lives!  Why stop at one deadly creature when you can have four!  From Airlie up there are stingers (two for the price of one, we learnt there were two deadly ones when we only knew of one), there are sharks and stonefish and now crocodiles as well. 

Stopped for the night at a tiny free camp at Bramstons Beach.  Did a not so subtle u-turn in the front garden of a caravan park that was far dodgier than the internet had us believe.  It's a bit like walking out of a restaurant after sitting down and being given the menu.  The camp we ended up in was lovely, in a wooded parkland (+ playground - big marks for that) next to the beach (don't be fooled - it was still full!). 

The caretaker made light of the crocodile signs, joking that the croc was full today.  Later we found out he had only been running the place for two weeks, so not sure how reliable a source he was!  We surely looked like scared tourists staring at the water from the safety of the sand.  Fortunately (or unfortunately) it is unseasonably cool in QLD at the moment (only just cracking the twenties - ripped off!).

Had a lazy start next morning, where we were treated to a feeding display by a pod of dolphins just off the coast.  En route to Cairns, took a side-track to a crystal clear swimming hole called Babinda Boulders. Oooh chilly...! There is an Aboriginal Romeo & Juliet story about how this place came to be. 

 

After a brief respite, climbed back in and kept on, until finally arriving in Cairns.

Carnarvon Gorge - the unexpected detour

Starting to tire of the crowded coast, we struck out west for an unplanned visit to Carnarvon Gorge.  The landscape flattened out, the roads narrowed, the trucks got bigger and mines were everywhere. 


Wide load - Leighton mining trucks (minus wheels) on the move



For hundreds of kilometres we tracked alongside and crossed over a massive LNG pipeline that is under construction.  Stopped at a small town that was almost entirely populated by men (with the exception of some well dressed young women tending the bar and playing pool at the pub - will leave you to ponder the possibilities...!).  Spotted this wonderfully cheesy ‘big’ offering along the way.

Went through a town called Banana, named after a yellow bullock.  Had a fun time explaining what a bullock was to the kids and confirmed for Dylan that, yes, he too could have that operation if he didn't want to have children, preferring to stay a "flatmate", ha ha ha!

Aimed for a dot on the map called Moura with a free camp at Dawson River 7km out of town.  About 1km out, Kel starts to get anxious about isolation.  No need...we rounded the corner to be greeted with a caravanopolis - even here!!!!  Educational fact for the day - courtesy of Dawson River and Greening Australia - some turtles can breathe out of their bums!

Arriving at Carnarvon National Park next day, stayed at a great camp called Takarakka, our first dirt road + caravan adventure.  Nothing broken!  The camp was next to a rocky bottomed creek that apparently is home to platypus.  It is certainly home to lots of kangaroos and bettongs.  Chilled out by the river in the arvo, a taste of what was to come. 

Carnarvon Gorge is an absolute gem.  We walked for 14kms (good job kids!) crossing the river many times on stepping stones (Ariel loved it so much she asked for stepping stones for her birthday...hmmm tricky...).  Visited an amazing rock art site and some smaller caverns and gorges.  It was full of hidden treasures and glorious to explore.  Hopefuly the pictures will speak for themselves.  Well worth the effort!







Set off back toward the coast next day, with a stop-over at Theresa Creek Dam.  Wow, this one truly was a city of caravans.  Turns out it is dinner and a show night.  Kids got excited when they saw the movie screen - sorry guys not for you.  Best Exotic Marigold Hotel showed after 30 excrutiating minutes of Roy Orbison, ha ha ha!